a calendar: an update

So I found http://planzo.com/, an onlnie calendar that’s easy to use, but has no ability for other people to request time on it, and I can’t import my iCal or Palm calendars into it. Oh well. It was worth a shot.

They do e-mail me on a daily basis to let me know my schedule, but I’ve got it memorized for the most part anyway. Everything’s AJAX so there’s no page reloading once you enter an event. Also, no multiple tags. I’ve yet to find a calendar that supports this. Anyone care to build me one?

Here’s another interesting thing though, look at the login page. Looks like some web search company’s login sites, doesn’t it? Planzo’s either hoping to get bought by Google or just doesn’t have much imagination when it comes to their own design.

Looks like it’s back to the “calendar beta ajax” Google search for me.

edit: I’m also going to be trying Kiko as well. they claim they are working on importing iCal calendars. If I can convince them to include multiple tags, then at least it’s a step in the right direction. I’m also playing around with Monket’s calendar on my server as well. Hoefully, one of them will satisfy what I’m looking for.

Motorola e815 review

I was going to hold back on this until it got resolved, but it’s geting me very frustrated.

I’m a Verizon Wireless customer, and my “New Every Two” deal just came up. I got my $100 off and a new two year agreement along with a shiny new Motorola e815. On paper, it’s an extremely cool phone, the screen’s big, the buttons are large and easily pressed, the memory card slot (I have a 512 MB card in there) is an awesome addition as now I can watch movies and mp3’s on the phone (not that I do, but I COULD), the 1.2 Megapixel camera is pretty good quality (check out my flickr account for more proof of that, the bluetooth works just fine and sync’s good to my computer and headset. It’s got EVDO capability although I don’t use it.

But…

When I first got the phone, it couldn’t send or recieve photos. I pay $5 a month for unlimited text and photo messaging to Verizon customers. So this is an issue because it’s a service I pay for. It just couldn’t send them. I took it to a store, who attempted to update the phone (by dialling *228, something I already did) and then told me to go to a service center. I went to a service center, who told me that I need to go through phone customer service first. I called customer service and spoke with 6 people over the course of an hour and a half. Eventually I was told to go to a service center to get the phone replaced. I went to a service center and it took 45 minutes to get a replacement. It sent pictures for a while.

Then it stopped one day. This is my second e815 and it’s stopped being able to send pictures. What the hell. I do NOT want to ssit on the phone with Verizon again for ANOTHER hour and half to find out that I need to takt ehe phone in to wait another 45 minutes to get another new phone.

The phone is also capable of OBEX transfers, which are transfers from a file system to the internal memory of the phone; which were disabled (the word people liek to use is “crippled”) by Verizon, so you will buy their games, their ringtones, etc. They’ve also disabled the ability to use the phone as a bluetooth or USB modem. I’d gladly trade the ability for the phone to “VCAST” for the Object Exchange (OBEX). Who gives a crap about VCAST anyway? I don’t care about music videos to start with, let alone watching them on my phone. I had my memory card filled up with episodes of My Name is Earl and Family Guy anyway.

Speaking of the video, it’s not too bad if you load it yourself. Quicktime will convert to the file type (.3gpp2) and you can get a minute of 15FPS video under 1 MB. I got 24 minute episodes of My Name is Earl down to about 16 MB if I remember correctly. Not too shabby all things considered. It’s no HDTV or even a 5G iPod, but it’ll do if you’re stuck and want to watch a show or two or the train or wherever.

Bottom line is that I’m PISSED about it not working for a second time on a new phone.

As soon as I get a new one or this one starts working again I’m hacking it anyway.

edit: this problem seems to have fixed itself somehow with a power off, power on. I think that might mean I’m an idiot.

Review – Fyuze (Beta)

While still in beta testing, Fyuze is a must-try for anyone who keeps track of multiple RSS feeds throughout the day. Here’s their own description of the website.

fyuze is a personal information aggregator that automatically collects information from the internet so you don’t have to. Sign up for an account, tell fyuze what you’re interested in, and you’ll be able to — at a glance — see what’s new on the web every time you log on.

Fyuze collects RSS data from feeds you provide into it’s easy input system. It’s setup easily to get specific tags from Flickr, jobs from Indeed.com, search strings on Technorati, events on Upcoming.com, Yahoo News searches, Amazon.com searches as well as any RSS feed.

A new account (information needed includes login, password, and e-mail address) will get you a default page set up with three tabs. “News,” Technology” and “Fun”. Each tab has a few feeds in it for generic sites like Engadget, Slashdot, Flickr’s “abstract” tag, Yahoo news, etc.

Layout comes in two options, three columns across with each feed under it’s own header, or reverse chronological order (newest stories first for those who don’t understand menu-speak), which looks like more of a traditional news page. The settings apply to each specific tab, not to all tabs. Each story’s headline is shown with a triangular button to the left that pulls down the text from the story. This would be a nice feature to be able to turn off and on, but there are no current options for it.

Adding content is simple enough, click the “[add content]” link at the top of the page and type your feed in or choose one of the pre-selected site’s feeds available. Editing and managing that content is also easy with links above each feed. Moving and deleting the tabs are also easy with buttons close to the top of the page.

Let’s walk through adding a feed. Let’s rob.blatt to your newly created fyuze account.

• click “add content”
• enter http://robblatt.wordpress.com/feed/
• move the feed to where you want it on the page (if you’re using three column view)
• done!

The only setting available is integration to your del.icio.us account. Outside of posting a link there, the settings page is blank. I assume they will add more options as time goes on, as they’ve changed the overall look of the site since it’s launch.

Overall, the feeds are displayed quickly, the interface is simple and easy to use, and it’s helpful for someone who wants to check all their feeds while not at home. I find it helpful in consolidation my not-working-and-on-the-internet time while at work.

It’s a free service and is worth a look if you check RSS feeds. For an idea of what the feed page looks like, check out a provided screenshot. What’s not shown is the Google Ads that are on each tabbed page. The ads are text based and unobtrusive, but still present.

My big worry with this site is that it will stay in BETA… FOREVER. GMail’s main page once you sign in still says it’s in beta, Google Earth is in beta, WordPress is still in beta, beta just seems to be the chic thing to do at the moment. It just screams “Don’t hold me accountable!”